Big 12 Football: 2012’s Breakout Stars?
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MAXIMIZE YOUR EDGE
A few things I want to add. First, most of these freshman breakout articles and specials we see on ESPN is pure speculation and filler based primarily on what these freshman stars did in their Spring practices.
They get it right every now and then, but in the grand scheme their record for predicting breakouts is awful. Luckily for them few people look back after a full season has been played, and forget what was said.
The trouble with judging freshman skill players from their spring practices is many times they are MADE to look good by their coaches. Maybe to give them a little confidence going into the fall. For example Texas Tech’s frosh QB looked better than Doedge in the spring. But what wasn’t reported is the offensive coordinator deliberately made Doedge run plays that had a very low success rate because he was checking out specific players. So Doedge didn’t always throw to the open receiver and so on. And on the other end, they give the frosh QB’s and receivers most of the easy routes while their breaking into the college game. But come fall, things will pick up for them and they’ll be tested much harder. Still, for players like freshman Lunt at OSU, as talented as he is coming out of HS, when he faces that Texas defense for the first time in their early conference tilt, he’ll be a deer in the headlights until the game slows down for him. That takes longer for some players than it does others. But calling a player like that a breakout star is a little premature. There will be a couple frosh breakouts this year, but I prefer to stick with the players who played last year and showed lots of promise, or the occasional JUCO that can come in and make some noise. There’s a lot less adjustement to be made for those kinds of players.
Put me down for Charlie Weis as the breakout star….for Florida, since he won’t be there anymore.
Seriously though, keep an eye on Justin Tuggle of Kansas State. He’s a transfer from Boston College and has moved over from QB. He’s also Jessie Tuggle’s (Atlanta Falcons all-timer) son. He will also benefit from playing next to Arthur Brown.